FMA Who leave traces of joy

Rome (Italy). On 27 July 2024, the Lord of Joy without end called to Himself our dearest Sister Graziella Boscato, Daughter of Mary Help of the Triveneta Province St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello (ITV).

There are FMA who leave traces of Salesian joy wherever they go. Sister Graziella Boscato was among them. Born in Valdagno (Vicenza) on Christmas Day, 25 December 1943, she loved life and knew how to contagion her joy with witty and intelligent humor. From her father, she inherited a poetic, creative, and musical vein, while her mother gave her simplicity and essentiality.

She began her formation in the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and made her profession in 1963. After obtaining the Degree in Literary Subjects and the Qualification for Teaching Literary Subjects, she began a happy and fruitful period of activities in the community and among the young people in the Mary Help of Christians Community of Padua.

After about ten years, she was asked to collaborate on the “Primavera Mondo Giovane” (Spring Youth World) magazine for teenagers at Mother Mazzarello Institute in Cinisello Balsamo (Milan). The first issue was published on 31 January 1950.  It was a choice made by General Chapter XI, held in 1947 in the aftermath of the Second World War, in response that “In the present hour, it is necessary to give to the hands of the young people of our schools, of our oratories, a beautiful, formative magazine” (General Chapter XI, Attachments 256).

When, in 1979, Sister Graziella arrived in Cinisello, the magazine was already consolidated. It was distributed bi-weekly by post subscription in Italy and had 80 pages in color. The editorial team is composed of FMA passionate about education and communication, among which are: Sister Bruna Grassini, Sister Graziella Curti, Sister Paola Guidali, who try to adapt the proposal to the recipients in a context of rapid evolution.

Despite the initial suffering, Sister Graziella puts her whole self into this unexpected mission. Her already known poetic and artistic abilities are of great help. She manages to combine the commitment of the Journal’s manager with teaching in the Middle School. Thus, the direct relationship with the children continues to be a source of inspiration for her work in the editorial staff of the Magazine.

In the twenty years of “Primavera”, Sister Graziella acquired a journalistic experience that combines her relational and educational capacity. In an interview with the Salesian Bulletin in 1995, she was asked: “In what way does Primavera speak of God?” and she answered, “In addition to the specific way (services, dossiers, sections), helping the children to grasp the thousand signs of God’s presence in every commitment for justice, in every choice of truth, in respect of one’s own body, in friendship, in beauty. The children know how to perceive the presence of God in the pages of Primavera. I always remember a girl who wrote to us, ‘The colors of the newspaper, the way you speak to young people, the dossiers you offer us, the joy you give us… it’s too good not to be God!'” And again, “although the generation of current teenagers has been defined by researchers ‘generation of empties’, we believe that a ‘full of life’ generation for a better and cleaner world is possible.”

In 1999, when the Institute stopped publishing “Primavera”, Sister Graziella suffered from this decision. She moved as a teacher to Milan at Mary Help of Christians Institute, in via Bonvesin de la Riva.

In June 2000, the President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, confers on her the Honor of the “Commendatore al merito della Repubblica” Award as an excellent woman for her many years spent as Director of the magazine “Primavera” in support of the formation of young people.

In 2001, Sister Graziella took up a new and unexpected mission as Animator of the Community of Jesus Nazarene in Rome, via Dalmatia. In beginning this task, she quotes Saint Paul, trusting that she also accepted with the support of this word: “We do not intend to be masters of your faith; instead, we are the collaborators of your joy, because in faith you are already firm.” She truly became a collaborator of the joy of the entire Educating Community. A Sister who lived with her in those years recalls, “She was always present… in the courtyard, in community, in events of the local Church, of the Institute offering to all her active simple, cordial contribution. She walked through the corridors sowing smiles, jokes, sympathy, and … some reminder here and there, always looking for the good of people and the Work.”

In the middle school, a father who was a journalist and benefactor had coordinated a newspaper editorial team made up of boys and girls and some FMA teachers. It was the “WOW” magazine. Sister Graziella did not hesitate to put into practice the professionalism and experience she had acquired. She becomes Director responsible for it and acquires registration at USPI (Union Stampa Periodica Italiana), so that in a few months “WOW” becomes the newspaper of the whole School, printed in color and distributed free to families. It becomes an unforgettable experience for everyone.

After 16 years managing the magazine Primavera, she wrote that she found herself managing another “primavera”, the one made by almost 800 children, always at the head of her thoughts and an Educating Community willing to embrace the territory, the Church, and the whole world. Her joy is contagious and she involves parents who participate and collaborate in the animation of various events and feasts.

She promotes the “Parents’ Forum”, a small seed of educative and recreational animation for all families: moments of sharing, prayer, Salesian fun, serious and cheerful dialogue, of work and commitment, of building together the Educative Plan that would inspire and guide the scholastic year.  Each one feels part of “a whole” in which to participate with their own technical and human skills, with their own charisma. From that experience, a group of Salesian Cooperators was born, still active and grateful for her guidance.

In 2007, she returned to Milan, Mary Help of Christians Institute. She continues to be an example of great educative passion, of intense relations with parents, teachers, and pupils. Like the previous ones, these are also years of  lively community life, full of intuitions and proposals always lived with hilarity and lightness, with a sense of humor but also with profound wisdom and common sense.

A woman of prayer, she knows how to give content to what she does and what she proposes. In 2012-13, she is preparing the celebration of the centenary of the foundation of the house of Milan Bonvesin. In 2013, she made a stop in Genoa to collaborate with the activities of the Primary School and the oratory. From 2014 to 2017, she is back in Rome at the Nazarene Institute as Animator: wise, eager to make her community grow in serene cordiality; she involves in and promotes participation and culture.

In 2017, she returns to Veneto, to Padua with the first signs of a disease that would be long and painful. When she can no longer speak, her eyes are filled with Heaven, with a lively evangelical gaze, like that of a child.  Still distinctive are her serenity and her smile that speak of her soul, much more than words can.

Sister Graziella Boscato was born into heaven on 27 July 2024, leaving nostalgia and gratitude for what she was: a passionate and happy FMA, who had made communication the way of meeting with young people.

1 of 5